title: [Limitation of therapeutic effort: Approach to a combined view].
abstract: Over the past few decades, we have been witnessing that increasing fewer people pass away at home and increasing more do so within the hospital. More specifically, 20% of deaths now occur in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, death in the ICU has become a highly technical process. This sometimes originates excesses because the resources used are not proportionate related to the purposes pursued (futility). It may create situations that do not respect the person's dignity throughout the death process. It is within this context that the situation of the clinical procedure called "limitation of the therapeutic effort" (LTE) is reviewed. This has become a true bridge between Intensive Care and Palliative Care. Its final goal is to guarantee a dignified and painless death for the terminally ill.
authors.affiliation: Graduada en Enfermería, Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, España. Electronic address: mariajoss_@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bueno Muñoz
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Cuidados intensivos; Cuidados paliativos; End of life; Final de la vida; Intensive care; Limitación del esfuerzo terapéutico; Limitation of the therapeutic effort; Palliative care